Pure

The best things are often the most unexpected.

	Version 360, (PS3, PC)	Developer Black Rock Studios	Publisher Disney Interactive	Genre Racing

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Finally, we have Pure's coup de grace: Freestyle mode. Without doubt the must fun element, Freestyle is all out chaos and frenzy. Each vehicle is only given a certain amount of gas to start with, and in order to maintain that precious fuel, the danger level is ramped up with trick points being the ultimate aim. So it becomes jostling madness to pull off as many crazy stunts and linked combinations as possible whilst aiming for bonus multipliers and trying to look where you're going. If you imagine the crash junctions and speed of Burnout being melded with style and tricks of Tony Hawk then you are half way there. Whatever this bastard child of an event is, it is without doubt good fun.

There is an innocent quality to Pure's racing which gives it an addictive edge. Although on the surface, all seems very straightforward and par for the course, there is a welcome variety to how it plays. Each track in itself, offers a multitude of routes, branches and hidden vistas which can only be accessed by the most skilled of riders. The difficulty curve which seems steep to begin with comes into its own as you progress through the game - it soon becomes a joy to execute stunts and boost accordingly. If you find yourself with your knee sticking out of your kidney, then its down to a mistake in your own timing and not some lazy game mechanic which was been unfairly implemented.

Visually, there are few negatives to be found. Each rider and bike is well animated with such details as hoodies blowing in the wind and mud sticking to all the places it should. However, the real star of the show is the tremendous draw distance and overall level design. Squeezing in all the main climates and environments such as desert, tundra, glacier and lucious tropics, it's nothing short of a feast for the eyes - and every level is lovingly lavish and robust. Special mention goes to some of the USA tracks that deliver isolation, industry and eerieness in equal measure that only backwater American settlements posess. If you can put up with the mixed bag of rock tunes blasting away in the background, then the technical aspect of the game is very slick and a fitting compliment to the gameplay itself.

Before Black Rock clears space on all their mantelpieces though, there are a few impurities that rear their unwanted heads. The World Tour campaign can be completed in a weekend and doesn't seem to take full advantage of the comprehensive customisation feature. It's quite possible to win many races with an ATV tailored specifically for Freestyle events and vice-versa. On top of that, the character selection is rather cosmetic, there was slight lag on the multiplayer races and more could have been made of unlockables such us extra tricks. It's nothing that downloadable content couldn't address in a jiffy.

Pure is a very welcome addition to a tired genre and it brings with it excitement and light relief. In a world of serious racing simulations and photo realistic imagery, the obsession to get the aurora borealis reflection angle just right can sometimes take away from just having a good time. Pure achieves nearly all it set out to do, and hopefully will receive commercial success in line with the obvious perseverance and love of its development background.

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